


coming out of my cage (and i've been doing just fine)

by midnightchapters



Series: i'll be yours if you'll be mine [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: - very minor bending, Air Nomads are alive, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Bending (Avatar), Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Falling In Love, Flirting, Gen, Gyatso and Yangchen are family bc i wanted them to be, Happy Aang, Kyoshi Rangi and Teo are family just because i said so, Light Angst, M/M, Stargazing, The Gaang is very minor but they are there and sprinkled around, aerospace engineer! teo, hey here's another fic that got wayyy bigger than it should that nobody asked for!!!!, i mean very light angst. you've got to squint to find it, tattoo artist! aang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29179074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightchapters/pseuds/midnightchapters
Summary: The boys are sun glory, wicks of flames, and starry warmth.
Relationships: Aang & Gyatso (Avatar), Aang & Teo (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong, Aang & Yangchen (Avatar), Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Teo (Avatar), Haru & Teo (Avatar), Kyoshi and Teo (Avatar), Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar), Rangi and Teo (Avatar), Teo and Toph Beifong (Avatar)
Series: i'll be yours if you'll be mine [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2083785
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	coming out of my cage (and i've been doing just fine)

**Author's Note:**

> 31 pages in the doc this time! i took a lot of libeties as u can see bc,,, self-indulgence and there is no angst for the first time! i know you guys are all amazed 
> 
> i listened to 9 by sza and willow + bubblegum bitch a lot while writing this hjdbjs
> 
> but here's another fic that got wayy bigger than i planned it to be that nobody asked for !!!!!!

It’s always the longing that gets to people first and that is what makes them crumble but stand so strong. That is it’s foundations, it’s pillars, it’s structure. 

It’s the very thing that builds up to love or like. 

And they say the best love stories happen in summer. Well. Teo will tell you why. 

**/**

It shouldn't be so hard to talk to a boy. It shouldn't be so hard to approach the place he works at and ask him out on a date or just flirt with him but. Teo’s never been really good at that. Or he is, he doesn’t know. Other people always have to point things out to him that aren’t too obvious to him. 

But, main point: he does not know how to approach and talk to the pretty boy who works at the tattoo parlor across the coffee shop he often stops by at which—

Whatever you think, Teo is not a creep. He is not. It’s just really hard to not keep his eyes going over to the pretty boy every few seconds whenever he crashes at the coffee shop that is Teo favourite and inhabits. He’s just, really really pretty and Teo labels him as ‘Pretty Boy’ in his head because, yeah he is, and then that also doesn’t even come close. Plus, it’s always the person who feels out of your reach you fall for. 

Teo hates himself. Why’d he have to go and get a crush on that pretty boy with the tattoos and septum piercing? _God_ , the septum piercing. Don’t even get him started on that. Wow.

Anyways, pretty boy is pretty and Teo has a crush. Isn’t that great?

 _No._ Because he has a crush and not before long, he will fall in love from the few seconds interactions he has (he doesn’t even have them, just stays in his seat and looks over and looks away) and will fall in love from the glances he takes at the pretty boy. 

He doesn’t even know his name and he has a crush. Teo’s been doomed from the start. 

Well, whatever. He can’t do anything about him and—

Oh. There he is. 

There is Pretty Boy, who entered the cafe and is in the waiting line to buy a drink eight when Teo was just thinking about him. Is this fate? Is this destiny? Is this karma fucking him over? 

God, Teo hates and loves it here. 

Pretty Boy is in the line, ordering and then he glances over and Teo looks away. In time, he hopes but that doesn’t hide his pink cheeks. And then he gets his drink and he looks over and Teo accidentally meets his eyes, Teo catches his eyes and Pretty Boy catches him looking. He smiles, hand lifted in a shy wave. 

Teo smiles back, hand lifted also in a wave, copying Pretty Boy’s movements, shy and hesitant. 

He’s a goner, he thinks, when Pretty Boy exits out the door and leaves the cafe. 

He’s pining. He’s pining for a guy he _barely_ knows. _Doesn’t_ even know. And he’s pining and will just be pining but –

Teo is in love. 

**/**

Pretty Boy smiles again, directed at him. 

Teo smiles back. What else is there to do?

He doesn’t get the guy’s name. 

**/**

And so it goes. His life goes on. 

It’s boring, and slow, and dreadful until he catches glimpses of that boy from the tattoo parlor almost something like weekly. Or, on a lucky day, can check him out whenever he comes to grab a coffee at Kyoshi’s corner. 

It’s summer. He finished whatever course work he has and is free but it’s so meticulous.Teo has nothing to do except lounge around, which is a relief, granted, but still. He keeps himself busy with little projects and whatever he can find around the house to make something and visit his family now that he finally has all the time in the world to do it. 

Every day, Teo would wheel past _The Avatar_ parlor on his way to Ba Sing Se university and look inside at the designs. (And maybe, for the Pretty Boy too.) And notice it’s structure and he can see why it’s popular even though he’s _never been_ inside but he’s seen it. Plus, him never being inside will probably change soon with how much he _wants_ a piercing – and a tattoo is great, too because. Well, he’s been needing to refurbish ( _?_ ) the small tattoo he already has that he did while drunk off his ass. 

Granted, Haru was there and so were a few other people he knows but that’s not the point. 

The point is this: At least by the end of summer, he has to have Pretty Boy’s number and have interactions with him. That is final (or so Teo hopes). 

And that is how he'll spend the rest of his summer. 

**/**

Sometimes, Teo doesn’t even know what to do. Or how to begin. Sometimes, Teo is something aching, longing for love not found. Sometimes, he’s a juxtaposition. Sometimes, on those days and he needs some semblance of release, of _something,_ freedom, the only thing he can do is find himself in Kyoshi’s Corner. 

Some place where he can just be without any consequences or any limits or things. Just—

It helps that the owners, Kyoshi and Rangi, are really kind and they understand. Even come to him and just sit down with him, either in silence or either in noise, or give him little treats that they say is on the house but he still pays them anyway. 

So, he does what he mostly, usually, always does. Orders coffee and goes to sit down, picks up a book and tries to distract himself. Curls up however much he can. 

Kyoshi comes soon enough. 

“Hi, Teo,” she murmurs. “One of those days?” She asks but it comes out as a statement. 

He nods, a small little thing, and smiles weakly. “Could I stay here?”

She focuses him with a sharp look and he draws in his shoulders, as if attempting to hide from her eyes and whatever she’s noticed and become something small. “You know you don’t have to ask. You can stay here for as long as you like.” Her tone becomes softer and he appreciates it. “Want to talk?”

Teo shakes his head. “I’m fine. Thanks Kyoshi. For asking,” he adds.

“You are not fine, but,” she presses her lips into a firm line. “It’s okay. I’ll leave you alone, but let me bring you a treat first.”

“Kyoshi, no, it’s–” but before he can finish his sentence and complete what he was saying, she’s already gone to get him what she promised. 

She saunters back, treat in hand – her well known and recognisable cookies – and sets it down in front of him, the tiniest smile on her lips. 

“Kyoshi,” Teo sighs, “you know you can’t go on like this.”

She scowls, friendy, playfully. “Who says so? You? Me and Rangi own and run this store, I think I can. And Rangi approves.” A fierce smile coats her lips and Teo shakes his head in fondness. “So, I can and will. Eat up. Plus, I think your boy’s going to walk in here any moment.” Her eyes glint with information that she’s only privy to and knows. 

Teo looks at her, words not registering until they do and— “He’s not– He’s not my boy, Kyoshi!” he sputters out. 

She smirks, eyes lit with pure mischief. “But you wish he was, don’t you?” 

He snaps his mouth shut, presses his lips together, and ignores the red creeping on his neck and face. 

Kyoshi grins, seeing the red flush that douses him, “Seems like I was right.”

Teo glares at her and mutters but loud enough for her to hear, “Don’t you have a job to do?”

“Okay, alright. I’m leaving,” she sighs, ruffling his hair as she walks by him and his hands go to fix it almost immediately, “Young people. Always in such a hurry,” rolls her eyes and snickers to herself. 

He stares after her in exasperation before he settles down again and loses himself in the pages. And, as Kyoshi said and predicted, it’s not long before Pretty Boy enters the cafe and the line like he does on most days Teo’s here. 

He lets his eyes trace the tattoos that are visible to the seeing eye and the gold earrings that flare under the light and his figure. Teo flicks his eyes away, picks up his book, and resumes. 

When he looks back up, Kyoshi shoots him a look, lips curved into a smirk with an eyebrow raised. He raises his eyebrows back and tries to communicate with his eyes that _no, stop, he isn’t_. 

_He is. Liar,_ she communicates silently. 

There’s no point for Teo to refuse and claim that Pretty Boy isn’t him when she _knows_. She knows, because she’s been seeing Teo checking him out and blushing, and looking up whenever the wind chimes tinkle waiting to see if he’s the one who’s coming in. 

He glowers but shifts his gaze.

So, when someone approaches and says, “Hey.” Well. Teo doesn’t even look up.

“I don’t work here. Although I do know who run it.” 

They laugh, and it’s a nice sound and Teo likes it. It’s raw, unbridled, but not throaty. Just, something like warm evenings huddled close by the fire. Smooth. “Oh, I know. I know who run it too! But I know that you’re just a regular that comes so often here that of course you know them and they know you too because what else but.” They ramble, and Teo finds it almost cute. (He does find it cute.) “But! That wasn’t why I approached.” 

He still doesn’t look up. And his eyes are closed. “Then why did you?” he wishes he could take it back as soon as it comes out of his mouth. 

Teo can feel the person’s smile even while his eyes are closed. 

“I’m Aang,” they introduce themself, “And that’s for me to know and you to find out. Is this seat taken? As in, is anyone sitting here?” 

“Does it look like that anyone is?” he wants to scream. _What is wrong with you, Teo, today?_

They don’t take any offense and pull the chair out. “No, it doesn’t.” They sit down, and it passes in silence between the two as they do whatever they’re busy with. 

Teo breaks it. He’s never one for so much silence. “I’m sorry,” he starts, “for me being rude. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s alright. Don’t worry.” Teo knows they’re smiling, crinkles at the corner of their eyes. 

“Also, pronouns?”

“He/him,” they answer and well. Now, he guesses he doesn’t have to continue referring to him with they/them pronouns like he was.

Teo finally opens his eyes and raises his head, looks up and shit. _Shit_. It’s Aang. His name is Aang. The Pretty Boy from the tattoo parlor across the cafe and the guy who he’s been crushing on is sitting in front of him and it’s him. 

_What a way to ruin your chances Teo._

_First meeting with your crush, where he talks to you but you’re rude to him. What a way to go_ , he thinks. But he fixes a smile onto his face, one where it curls up in the corners and Teo hopes Pretty Boy — _Aang_ — doesn’t pay attention to the pink that blooms on him. He sits straighter in his seat and prays that the embarrassment doesn’t swallow him whole. 

“Hi.”

“Hey,” Aang says again, a smile crinkling his eyes exactly like Teo knew. 

He’s so pretty. _He’s so pretty_. He’s gorgeous in fact — _what the fuck, what the fuck_ — that. Actually, no words can describe him, Teo decides. He just is. And him up close. Teo’s falling all over again. 

His septum piercing is there, in view, in front of him and holy Tui. It’s something else, he’s something else, up close. It glints under the light. 

He's staring. _You’re gorgeous_ , he wants to say but he clamps it shut, tight, where it doesn’t get out. He instead blurts out, “You’ve got a septum piercing!” 

Aang lights up. “I do! What do you think?”

“Pretty. Real pretty and cool,” he tells Aang. “I remember wanting a nose ring when I was in high school but.” He shrugs. (Teo pretends as if he didn’t call Aang pretty while they just met now. He pretends not to notice he told Aang such.)

Aang looks at him, as if he’s looking at only him and that he only exists in this world. It’s terrifying, but he doesn’t want it to stop. Him to stop. It should be worrying how much Teo wants to stay the center of his attention, but he’s not special. He probably makes everyone else feel this way too, and treat them like it as well. So, Teo doesn’t think or linger on it too much. 

(But he does.)

A sharp inhale of breath sends Aang out of his reverie. “Thank you.” Aang finally says, “And it would suit you! Why didn’t you get it?”  
  
Teo smiles, wry at the edges. “Because.” And leaves it at that. Aang seems to get it and drops it. “And you think so?” 

Aang’s turn to smile. (It’s not like he’s stopped smiling.) “I know so,” he says, gently and meets Teo’s eyes. 

His eyes linger on Teo's rings but just like that he flits them back up and an easy smile plays on his lips. 

Teo clears his throat. Swallows. Looks away like he always does. “Thanks.” 

It’s back to silence. Until— 

“You’ve got a tattoo,” Aang says, eyes concentrated on Teo’s arm, where there is actually a tattoo. Albeit small, but he guesses that doesn’t matter to the tattoo artist. 

He blushes at Aang’s attention, and the heat it seems to leave behind. “Yeah, I do,” he admits. “A stick and poke I did drunk with friends.” Shrugs. “It’s not the best and I didn’t really have the need to get it properly done.”

Aang leans toward him, and Teo meets his gaze head on. “You know,” he murmurs, smoothly, “I’m a tattoo artist and maybe I can do a touch up? And maybe you can get a nose ring too, it’s not only a tattoo parlor. But that’s only if you’d like to, of course. I mean, I don’t want to pressurize you or anything and—”

“Relax, Aang,” Teo cuts him off. And then a huff of laughter escapes in disbelief. “Were you flirting with me?” 

His eyebrow quirks in minor confusion before he understands. Aang’s lips curl up into a playful grin. “Maybe. Maybe not. You can take it however you want to.” 

“Okay then,” Teo arches his eyebrows at Aang, the man still wearing a cheeky grin. “I’m going to get a piercing first. Not a nose ring,” he declares just as Aang opens his mouth. 

“Oh boo.” Aang doesn’t stick out his tongue like Teo was expecting him to. 

But he perks up soon enough, dark grey eyes sparkling. “I’ll give you my number,” he states, “because my schedule is packed right now, but I’ll text you when I’m free and let you know.” He rummages through his pockets and takes out a business card. “Here is the shop’s card and details and all that. The Avatar. Right across the street.”

“Don’t think anyone can miss it,” he leans back in his chair. “And,” Teo smirks amusedly. “Making the moves already?"

Aang winks, reaching out to give Teo the card. “Maybe. Maybe not.” 

Teo takes it and their fingertips brush. 

_Aang Gyatso. Tattoo Artist. The Avatar._

“Hey, Aang,” Teo calls out before he leaves and Aang looks over his shoulder at him. “Nice tattoos.” 

And in an incredible show, he sears roses. 

“Thank you,” he whispers and Teo just manages to catch it. He leaves after. 

Teo’s day turned infinitely for the better. 

He has Pretty Boy’s number and name, and had a proper actual interaction.

He’s looking forward to the rest of summer. 

(Teo glares and groans at Kyoshi when she says one of her remarks.)

**/**

Time marches on in a whirlwind, and before he can even think, he has a bundle of Haru, arms wrapped around him and laughter filling him whole. 

Yeah, summer is great and all, but he misses his friends. 

“Okay, so, _you’re_ telling me,” Haru starts, holding an iced cappuccino that Teo bought and Rangi came to give them, as he listened to Teo’s story (and pining) of what happened the past weeks. “That you, Mr. Lover Boy, finally talked to him and you have his number.”

Teo smiles, a little sheepishly. “Yeah. I do.” And then, “I didn’t talk to him first! He did!”

“You talked to him,” Haru repeats, and thank goodness he doesn’t have that ugly mustache Teo saw him wear at the end of the school year anymore. “He’s the tattoo artist you’ve had a crush on forever, and from afar–”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Teo murmurs, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. 

Haru continues on as if Teo hasn’t said anything, “And you have his number now. That he gave to you. Personal number. Because what? Only to do your tattoo?” 

“Yeah. I’m sure he’s not interested, Haru. He didn’t give me his phone number because he is. That’d be–” 

“Bullshit,” Haru cuts in. “I call bullshit,” and shakes his head at him. “If you don’t see it or realise then you’re more oblivious than I give you credit for.” 

“Hey! I am _not_.” Teo sputters, glaring at Haru. 

He only raises his eyebrows, saying _really?_ “He gave you his number because _he is_ _interested_ , Teo. Why else would he? Under the guise of just touching up your tattoo?” 

Teo sticks his tongue out and doesn’t say anything else to refute it. He knows when he’s fighting a losing battle. 

But then, of course, Kyoshi has to pop up from somewhere and add her own two silver pieces in. “Talking about Teo’s boy?” 

Haru turns to face her, wicked grin lighting up his face that Kyoshi matches and Teo knows it’s nothing good. And he, mentally, prepares himself for defeat. “We are. Want to join?”

Her grin turns more wicked. “Would love to,” and sits down comfortable, relaxed in her seat, leg propped over her other leg and arms crossed, waiting for the sentence. She’s intimidating. Rangi is too. He wouldn’t have it any other way. 

(And he doesn’t mind them ribbing him, teasing him, either. He wouldn’t have them any other way even if he does get annoyed.) 

Kyoshi begins, like the traitor she is, and divulges, sing-songs, “Teo knows his name.” 

“You know his name,” Haru says, looking over at Teo, on the way to raise a brow and Teo offers him a meek smile, “and you didn’t think to tell me?”

“I. It must have slipped my mind,” he shrugs. 

Haru narrows his eyes at him and Teo meets his gaze innocently. _I’ll come back to this later._

_Fine. Come back to it._

“Kyoshi,” Rangi calls out from somewhere in the kitchen, “leave them alone. Come help me, I can’t do everything on my own.”

She rises, dusts off her pants and leaves, but not without shooting the boys a smirk, “Coming Rangi. And this is the best fun I have. You want me to leave it alone?”

Rangi’s voice is small, humor coating it. “Yes.” 

They’re alone again, and this is when Haru can actually speak what he wants to and was going to. 

“Teo,” Haru begins, eyes softening with concern, “you have a big heart. We all know this. Do you think maybe…?”

“I don’t know,” he sighs, “it’s too soon.”

“It’s never too soon for you.”

“We’ve only had one proper interaction, Haru. I know I’ve got a crush, but. I think it’s too soon to tell.” A pause. “I’ll be sure to let you know when I do.” And he gives Haru an indulgent smile.

Haru leans back in his seat, lightly kicking Teo’s foot, “Okay, alright.” Quiet, then, “You’re gonna go to him aren’t you?”

“ _Haru_.”

“I’m just saying,” Haru snickers, “you have his number. You’re gonna get a tattoo,” he waves a flippant hand and then levels a look at him. “You are. Good luck. Talk to him.” Winks. “Go on a date.”

“I’ll talk to him when you’re not here,” Teo grumbles, but pinks at Haru’s suggestion. 

“That’s the spirit!” 

He groans, head resting in his arms on the table. “I’m so stupid. This all is stupid. He’s so stupid. His pretty eyes and tattoos and face and personality and–”

“Ugh,” Haru rolls his eyes, and mutters, “you’re waxing poetry for him now.”

Teo laughs, sudden, but with lightness. “Always have been waxing poetry for him.”

Haru makes a face. “Don’t want to hear about it Lover Boy,” lifts his head up to the heavens as if begging for mercy, “But I know I am. Carry on.”

And he does. As if he needed Haru’s permission. Teo gazes out of the window, manages to catch the geometrical designs that decorate the inside of the shop, and if he squints hard enough, he can see Aang by the front of the shop, leaning on the counter smiling. He would recognise Aang by everything. Would recgonise him always. 

**/**

  
  


hi aang (3:40pm)

it’s teo here if you remember me (3:40pm) 

pretty boy: teo! (3:41pm)

of course i remember you, don’t think i could ever forget (3:41pm) 

hi, it’s good to hear from you :D (3:41pm) 

are you flirting with me again? (3:43pm)

because, i have to admit, it’s working (3:44)

pretty boy: you can take it any way you want to ;) (3:51pm)

but anyone asks, well (3:53pm)

confidential (3:53pm) 

(If Teo waits for Aang’s texts with bated breath, nobody is there to see it.) In a bold move, he types:

you were waiting on me (4:00pm)

i know you were (4:00pm)

you can’t deny it (4:00pm)

pretty boy: flirting with me?

you can take it any way you want to (4:02pm)

(Uses Aang’s own words against him. And he knows that Aang is laughing, eyes glittering with his head thrown back.) 

pretty boy: using my own words against me? well played, i’m proud (4:07pm)

and i was (4:09pm)

thought you should know (4:15pm)

  
  


(If there’s a grin he’s biting back that threatens to break out on his face, well. Aang doesn’t have to know. It’s his secret. And if there’s a light feeling cracking in his chest, threatening to swallow him whole, Aang doesn’t need to know about that either.)

He instead tells him this: 

i’ll see you soon (4:22pm)

have a good day aang (4:23pm)

pretty boy: you too teo (4:26pm)

and what do you mean by see you soon (4:29pm)

???? (4:29pm)

because if it means what i think it is then (4:29pm) 

maybe (4:30pm)

have fun aang (4:31pm)

**/**

It’s with a sharp inhale, sharp exhale, breathe in breathe out, trying to smoothen out his nerves, that Teo enters The Avatar finally. 

He approaches the counter and there’s a girl with whisper-like eyes. “Hi, do you take… uh, walk-ins?” And he realises how unequipped he is to deal with this. 

She looks up where the direction of his face is. “You want piercing or tattoo? Cause, I’m free right now.” 

“Piercing is fine.”

“Nice,” she grabs a clipboard, “Fill this out for me and then come with me. I’m Toph.” She gives him a terrifying grin that Teo doesn’t know what to make of. 

When he fills in the forms, Teo follows after her to her station. And there, in the second station, is Aang going over a design, or that’s what Teo thinks. He turns his head to the side, slightly and then glances up. When he catches Teo, however, he brightens and wears a smile so gleaming, as if his day is better when he sees Teo and he’s happy because he’s here and seeing him. 

_Agni_ , Teo doesn’t even make sense. It’s all his feelings for Aang confusing him, that’s all. 

Teo looks away and from the corner of his eye can make out Aang’s face fall. _Why would he be?_ He thinks but doesn’t finish his thought because then. Then. 

It’s Aang who says something, first, which isn’t surprising and there’s a little smirk he wears in his voice. “Here to see me?”

“I’m not here to see you Aang,” Teo rolls his eyes, fondly. Aang makes a face, eyes drooping and mouth low. He’s pouting, comes to Teo and he wants to laugh at the notion but he reigns it in. “But, maybe later.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Aang murmurs and Teo, for the life of him, blushes. 

Toph watches on uninterestedly, but with hidden glee and there’s a knowing glint in her eyes. “Hey, lovebirds, you two done yet? I’m not waiting anymore. Carry on later.” Waves a flippant hand. Teo meets Aang’s eyes as he turns to sit down and they exchange a look. Aang smiles, affectionately and shrugs. _She’s like that_ , Teo thinks is what he mouths. 

All Teo does is give him an understanding tilt of lips. He pretends not to notice rose-coloured cheeks that creep up on Aang. 

“Okay,” Toph declares, drawing Teo’s attention back to her, “you can ogle Twinkle Toes later when I’m not here. But standard piercings, right?”

His cheeks burn embarrassment at being caught. “Yeah. And was it too obvious?”

She snorts. “Yeah! More obvious than obvious. And I’m blind!”

Teo blinks, unfazed. “Yeah, I know. And? Am I supposed to give you an award?” 

Toph grins, slow and with teeth. “I like you. We’re gonna get along great.” But then she comes back to the reason why Teo is here in the first place. “You’re not gonna feel a thing. Don’t worry, I’ve got ya back pal.” 

She disinfects his earlobe, and says, more gently than he’s ever given her credit for (and he’s known her for a few minutes at most), “You can distract yourself while it’s happening. Talk, etc, I don’t know.” 

And Teo sounds vulnerable when he answers back, “Okay.” 

He doesn’t know what to talk about first, so it’s relatively silent but then he does and— “I like space. Love space in fact and that along with the air is why I’m studying to be an aerospace engineer. And, I guess, another part of it is airbenders too.”

She pauses for a moment and nods her chin to Aang’s direction. “You know, Aang is an airbender.”

He lets out a small breath of laughter. “Yeah, I figured.”

She continues on, as if he never interrupted her, “And you’ve got a crush on him.” 

That’s when Teo goes tense, refusal already tipping out of his mouth, “What? No, I do n–”

“Hey it’s fine. Twinkle toes there is really a magnet. You’re not the first one to have a crush on him.” She probably notices the way he deflates at that and her voice lowers. “But, if it’s any help, I know he likes you too.” She leans back, satisfied and Teo doesn’t even trust his mouth right now because he knows he will say something that will make things—

She grins, positively wicked and gets back into piercing his ears. It’s quiet after that. And all Teo feels is pinches, not too strong, and they don’t hurt as much as he expected them too. 

She releases him, lets go, and leans into her chair pulling off her gloves. “You’re done.” 

Teo rises out of the seat, and walks over to the mirror. And if he checks himself out, well that's no one’s secret but his. “Huh,” he breathes, “silver.” 

Aang, behind him, approaches and Teo flits his eyes in his direction, and while still gazing in the mirror, they maintain eye contact. It feels intimate. Teo is not made for this stuff, but he welcomes it all the same. Aang stops and reaches out for his earring, touching it gently and Teo is thrown into why his feelings grow and grow by the minute for him. 

“It looks great,” he says, and then seems to hesitate, as if deciding whether or not to utter the other words that will spill out of his lips like ink on marble. He comes to a conclusion soon enough and Teo is there, waiting, watching. (His septum piercing catches in the dim glares of light.) Aang taps his earring once, twice, three times and draws his hand away; raises it again and taps his cheek this time with the warmest satin-soft smile Teo’s ever been on the end of and his breath stutters. “You look beautiful.”

Teo blossoms fire-lilies. 

And Toph is there to ruin the moment. She fake retches, “C’mon you guys. If you want to be like that then get out of the shop. Don’t do it in front of me, I don’t wanna see it.” 

“You can’t see,” Teo tells her.

“I can’t see!” she laughs. Toph straightens up quick enough, though. She slides a bottle against the counter towards him. “Cleaning solution. Take good care of them.” She takes out a small brochure too and hands it to him. “Here are instructions, in case you forget and in case it went through one ear and out the other,” she pointedly says. 

Teo smiles, sheepishly. 

“Oh, and,” she snaps her fingers, “before I forget, come back soon. And visit me.”

“Are you trying to make a move on Teo?” Aang raises an eyebrow, and he sounds almost jealous, and seems petulant. Teo tries to ignore how close Aang is. 

Toph snorts and rolls her eyes. “He’s all yours.” She carries on from where she left off, “so I don’t have to deal with Twinkle Toes there all the time.” 

Aang cries out in disagreement. “Uh, no. I–”

“Don’t care,” she cuts off and finishes. Toph punches Aang in the arm though, to make it up. “I’m joking.” 

“Hey, is your shift done?” 

“In a few minutes, maybe,” Aang answers, looking over at him, curiosity shining in his eyes. “Why?” 

Teo smirks, and returns Aang’s words back to him, “me to know, you to find out.”

Aang shakes his head, a small huff of laughter making past his lips. “Yeah, okay. Wait for me?” 

“Always will,” he promises and a blush shell-pink dusts his face. 

“You guys are nauseating,” Toph states, “I swear, I could puke.” 

Aang gives her a look and she makes a show of pointing to her eyes and yawning. He gives Teo a suffering look and he chokes his laughter down.

Teo waits for him, like he always will. And he stands by the door, with nothing but a seal of sky nectar, and star-glow, to accompany him. He’s in favour. Aang meets him soon enough. 

He holds a hand out, then retracts it but Aang slips his hand in Teo’s and holds. Teo curls his fingers and clutches back. When he turns to look at Aang, he sees that he already is looking at him with something so untouchable. 

(Later, he asks Aang how Toph knew. He will reply with _she's a metalbender_.)

Later, when everything’s said and done; Teo knows that even with the galaxy in his hands and all the constellations that hang from it, he’ll still be staring at Aang (will never not be staring at him). 

**/**

All of Teo’s life, _most_ of his life by whatever tidbits he remembers, he couldn’t be him. People looked for something there that wasn't him. They searched for someone that was gone and not there and when they saw it, they froze and had to turn away. Take a moment or two or many. 

That was his father. All his father saw was his mother after her death. Mother’s face, mother’s hair, mother’s laugh. 

Aang doesn't. 

He doesn't see anyone or anything, doesn't search. Aang sees him, only him, and Teo lets himself feel the relief that comes along with it, lets himself feel happiness. 

**/**

It’s meeting after meeting, and daily wandering. They’re tiptoeing the formal boundary between _more-than-friends_ but _not dating_ , either.

Museum. Art Gallery. Parks. 

Teo’s days blur by in snap-shots. Until there is nothing but a few weeks of summer left. Aang takes him to a meadow today, makes it his own personal mission when he hears Teo offhandedly mention he loves flowers and Teo—

Teo likes this man so much it feels larger than life itself, feels larger than the infinite galaxies and milky ways that rest in the universe, feels larger than everything and nothing. 

(Teo likes him so much, he might just even love him. He’s beginning to love him, he knows that for sure.) 

“Teo,” Aang whispers, _"Teo_.”

They’re in a meadow filled with all kinds of flowers painting it. That made a home in the vast space and planted their roots there to forever live. 

He lazily hums, opening his eyes to look at him like they met. Except, they didn’t know each other well back then. Now, they do. Teo knows the exact way Aang’s eyes crinkle in the corner when Teo says or does something stupid, knows the exact map of the stars in his constellations of freckles, knows the exact way his hands feel. He wants to know how his lips taste like. He wants to know how the metal of his septum piercing would feel against his lips as he kisses Aang’s nose. Wants to know everything.

“Yeah?”

“Could you put your head on my lap?” Before Teo’s mouth opens to ask him incredulously that why does he want his head on his lap, Aang knows what he’s thinking and answers, “I want to braid your hair. If that’s okay with you.” 

“More than fine with me,” he mutters, closes his eyes, and lays his head on Aang’s lap. 

He weaves Teo’s hair, again and again. Back and forth, until all tension ebbs out of Teo like a star slowly dies but then they explode. Teo doesn’t explode. He is unlike a star. 

Sometime during plaiting, Aang murmurs, “Relax sweetheart.” 

And Teo’s thoughts stumble to a stop. Pauses. He wants to bathe in the word Aang tells him and make it a home. _Sweetheart,_ his thoughts scream. His thoughts stopped, but now they come back up vicious until all that’s there is _sweetheart sweetheart sweetheart._ He smiles, despite himself, and cracks his eyes open because this, _this_ is what he wants to capture and see. “You relax, Pretty Boy.”

Aang shakes his head, softly, affectionately, tenderly and lets out a laugh that sounds like sunlight. 

“Your hair’s done,” is what he says after many moments.

Teo’s hand immediately goes to touch it and turns to face Aang. he cups Teo’s face in his hands and looks at him like Teo has hand delivered him the moon. Teo leans into the touch.

“Come on, I’ve got a friend who wants to meet you.”

Teo arches a brow. “You talk to your friends about me?” 

Aang blushes, “yeah.” 

He continues to gaze at him until Aang blends in with the flaming-roses. He smiles, pleased. “Come on, take me to your friend.” 

Aang whisks him off, whisks him away, into the metaphorical sunset as if in a fairytale, as if he’s the hero, the knight who saved the damsel in distress. If so, Teo doesn’t mind. 

**.**

The Jasmine Dragon is a tea shop in Ba Sing Se. It is renowned for its bubble tea. 

And that is apparently where Aang’s friend works at. Actually, scratch that, is the nephew of the owner, Iroh, who insists on everyone calling him Uncle. 

“Look what the cat-owl dragged in. Aang,” his friend says amusedly. 

Aang gives him a flat stare. “Ha ha, very funny Zuko. Good job.” But he smiles all the same.

Zuko’s eyes land on Teo and he gives him a tiny wave. He smirks, “Who is this?” he asks, but Teo knows Zuko knows who he is, if it’s any indication by the way his eyes glint. 

“I’m Teo. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to put a face to the name Aang talks a lot about,” Zuko shoots Aang a grin and Aang goes faint scarlet embarrassed, “I heard a lot about you. I’m Zuko.” he extends his hand.

Teo shakes it. “Uh, thank you?” It’s meant to be a statement but it comes out as a question instead. He slants Aang a gaze, “He didn’t mention you or talk about you a lot,” he says reproachfully, gently as Aang turns a deeper shade of scarlet. Teo nudges him, and softly beams at him, Aang shows his pearls of smile.

Zuko watches them, smiling gently himself. “Huh. You two are good for each other. Toph was right.” 

And they cough, distance themselves a little, but they don’t deny the words. 

Zuko’s smile grows larger. He says this: “Go take a seat. I’ll be back with your orders soon.” and then he leaves.

But, between Aang and Teo, it feels like moonlit blazing. 

**/**

“Why am I here?”

Aang props his chin on his hands, leaning forward and wearing a crooked grin that tugs on Teo’s heart. (His grins always tug on Teo’s heart. He, himself, does. But this, crooked, grin, reserved only for him is—) “Why do you think you are?”

Teo observes him with honey-pooled eyes that could be Fire Nation if he didn’t know with certainty that he’s from the Earth Kingdom. He leans close to Aang, mouth near his ear and says, “I think you missed me,” and pulls back, noticing the blush that tints him and lets out the smallest curve of a smirk. 

Aang’s quiet, but then he sends him a smile like a small beaming sun that he can hold in his palms, dark grey eyes glowing faintly and shifting into other colours of grey in the lighting. It’s ash-comet gray right now. “I couldn’t get you out of my head,” he agrees, “I did miss you. Now, tell me a story.”

“Is that a demand?” Teo gazes at him, watching, scrutinizing, because this is a boy-god with the power to conquer a thousand suns if he wanted to. 

Aang grins, mischievous but an edge to it. Grins with teeth. “It is.” 

“Well, I can’t really ignore your demand, can I?” Teo drawls, casual. 

(How can he ignore a boy who burns him? How can he ignore a boy who took his heart? How can he ignore a boy who makes him feel indestructible? How could he ignore a boy who is a gilded god?)

_No, you can’t._

He twists his ring. “There wasn’t a boy once,” he begins, sucks in a breath, “there was just a face who loved too much and so the world handed him something back. As a punishment? As a gift? Who knows? Nobody. He had the face of his mother.” He strings these words out carefully. “And she was a ghost, so he was a ghost as well. They looked at him, and only saw her. Never him. When they found what they were looking for, they never did again in heartache. The boy’s made something for himself now. He’s studying to be an aerospace engineer because there’s something about the air that’s so freeing and something about space that’s so breathing.” 

Their eyes meet, and a supernova sets off. Erupts, and all there is heat.

“Is that boy okay now?” Aang asks, eyes down with something. Hurt, maybe. 

“He’s doing alright now. And he’ll be fine, one day,” Teo admits, reassures. 

A comet lays in Aang’s eyes, shooting and hurtling, flaming. “I’ll take your word for it.” He stretches out then, leaning his weight on the palms behind his back. 

Aang directs breezes that dance through Teo’s hair and over his face. A symphony, almost. 

He gets up suddenly, and Teo sits up from the position he was lying in. Aang crosses the fissure between them and lays down where he sits, head placed on Teo’s lap. “Is this fine?”

“More than fine,” Teo answers, and sucks in a sharp breath of air when Aang turns and tucks his face into his stomach, arms encircling his waist. 

Aang reaches out for Teo’s wrist and holds there. His thumb brushes against his pulse and he lets it rest there.

“And, for the record, I like the boy for who he is, for himself. Never anyone else.” 

And Teo knows Aang feels his pulse rocket up to the space with how fast his heart beats. He hums, and rests his forehead against boy-god.

He was always destined to be Yán Fēi falling for Agni.

**/**

Aang does his touch-up. It’s a simple affair. 

He talks to Aang to distract himself from the pain while he does Teo’s tattoo. And it isn’t too detailed, it’s simple but _refined,_ delicate but not fine-china delicate. It’s a design of a cluster of stars, with a line that zigzags painted with flowers and stars that dot points in there, and with butterflies on the outer rim there on his shoulder. 

At one point, they get so close that they can kiss, mouth inches away from each other. They don’t.

At another point, Aang’s eyes are unwavering, fierce, afire, and Teo takes in a shaky breath. 

At the end, when it’s done, Aang tells him that he looks stunning more than the tattoo ever can be, and Teo presses a kiss on his nose. (He does feel the smooth metal of Aang’s septum piercing under his lips like he wanted to.) 

**/**

Yán Fēi and Agni were lovers. 

Before Agni was known as a spirit, he was a boy. Later, he became a spirit but then. 

Then.

He was a boy in love with a boy chained to towers. 

They kissed, they loved, they held, they grew, together. Never separate. But the spirits had it out for him. 

They were jealous of the love he and Yán Fēi tenderly bore. They were jealous they could not feel magnitudes. 

Agni became a spirit. He became the sun and Yán Fēi broke, because Agni was never in his reach. He was always something to desire, to want, never to hold and cherish.

Yán Fēi loved him so much, and would do anything to be able to love him once more, he built wings and he flew. Flew towards the sun, flew towards Agni himself who opened his arms with joy but La pulled him in soon enough. 

Yán Fēi never loved again.

Agni never gave himself the chance to fall the way Yán Fēi did for him.

They weren’t written down in history, they were just casted off to the side as a tale. A myth, a legend.

But, know this: Yán Fēi was never his name. He was called that because of the way he flew and then blazed in his last moments. Agni was never his name either.

Know this: 

Yán Fēi was not his name. Was never his name. 

Agni was not his name. Was never his name. 

The star crossed lovers who ached for a heart are nothing but a tragedy that awaits.

**/**

The afternoon sky slowly drifts into evening sky; full of violet, the right amount of seafoam green, and a touch of blue. The Sky Bison constellation twinkles especially bright, protecting all the people under. 

“There’s someone I want you to meet,” he says, glancing at Teo from the corner of his eye. “Someone’s, actually,” he corrects.

“Do you do this to everyone? Take them home to meet important people in your life?” Teo spares him a flow of a glance. “Or am I the only one?” Tone wry, and coy.

“You’re the only one,” Aang admits, “Only to you.” He smiles, easily, freely, graceful and soft. Teo ignores the way his breath hitches.

As they round the corner, the place Aang was leading him to is there in sight. And Teo can see why he loves it so much, other than the someone’s there. He’s captured by the diner, and it’s a cute, lively place. Homely. 

_Gyatso’s Delights_ , Teo catches and manages to read before he’s rushed by Aang.

“Come on! You’re gonna love this place,” He holds the door open, stepping inside the diner after him, and they go take a seat somewhere, grabbing the menus.

“On a date Aang?” A man appears, with airbender tattoos and a moustache, wizened but with youngness that is there, and questions Aang. Aang tries to hide his face and Teo can’t hold in a smile. The man’s eyes flicker to him, and something light waves in them, gentle. “You didn’t tell me.” He fixes him with a pointed look and Aang averts his eyes and tilts his face away from him. 

Teo lets out a hushed laugh. 

The man appraises him. “And he's a handsome young man too. I’m–”

A woman cuts in, and she appears to be in her forties and wears the tattoos Aang and the man do. “Leave him alone Tenzin.” She faces Teo and addresses him, “I’m Yangchen, this little guy’s aunt,” she jabs a thumb in Aang’s direction. 

“I am not little,” he grumbles, crossing his arms and pouting.

She gives him a look. “With the way you’re behaving right now, yes, you are little. You can call me Aunt Yangchen.” She finishes off and smiles. 

“I’m Tenzin. Aang’s father.” The man says, now Tenzin and grins. “But you can call me Gyatso.”

“Okay, so,” Aang starts and tells Teo, “these are the important people of my life. The ones who raised me and are my family.” he beams, radiating unbridled joy and it's contagious that Teo’s teeth peeks out. He sees Yangchen and Gyatso exchange knowing looks and smiles.

“I’m Teo,” he tells them earnestly, open.

“Aren’t you a pretty little thing,” she coos out and Aang flushes in shame.

“Aunt Yangchen,” he mutters, “Can you stop.”

“I’m doing my doting aunt duties in peace, Aang. Let me. Besides, Teo doesn’t mind.” She shoots him a questioning look.

His lips qurik up, and he assures her and them, “I don’t. I like it, in fact.”

“He likes it, in fact,” she announces and Aang groans.

After they’re gone, Teo meets his eyes from what feels like afar but isn’t. He always will. “I like your family.”

Aang smiles, burning, beaming, like a meteoroid streaking against the midnight sky. “Good. You should.” 

Teo hums, closes his eyes to not face the weight and heat of the heavy stare Aang’s giving him. “What?” he mumbles, voice tentative.

“Nothing,” Aang murmurs, tender and delicate, “nothing at all. You’re just pretty.”

Teo doesn’t say anything answering that. He just blushes and knows Aang’s tracking his every move. “You’re not too bad on the eyes either,” he jokes, laughing when Aang knocks his shoulder in rebuttal. “You’re pretty too.”

Aang just taps his earring in response.

**/** ****

Aang has stars that make up his entire being, Teo knows. 

A celestial being, on the planet of wet Earth that is home to all. 

Aang has art that makes up his entire being, and yet again Teo sees a sliver of skin with black ink covering it.

Teo curls his finger where his pulse flutters. “Can you tell me about your tattoos?” 

Aang sends him a surprised glance. “You want to know about them?” Teo nods and his lips lift up into a small beam.

He first gestures at his arrow tattoo, sees Teo’s gaze linger on it, what makes him _him_. Because without it, Aang is incomplete. He starts from there. “This is my airbending master tattoo. Every airbender who masters airbending gets it. It was my first tattoo too.” He lifts his shirt so Teo can see the tigers on both sides that curl up almost protective of each other. “The tigers are protectors; they’re one of the four animals linked to the Kagyu lineage in my culture.” Hitches up his shirt more, “those are my Sak Yant tattoos, they mean a lot in Air Nomad culture. From our home.” Turns so Teo can see his back. “A lightning strike. Felt connected to it, somehow. I don’t know why. But it makes a pretty badass tattoo.” 

Teo laughs as Aang winks at him. “Maybe from a past life?” Teo suggests.

“Maybe,” Aang tilts his head. He rests back on the grass again. 

Teo’s hands move on their own accord, and before he even realises, can stop himself, he’s tracing Aang’s hand tattoos - the ones that are in reach and visible. Aang goes pink, and looks over at him and Teo immediately releases it, rips it away, and stops, flushing in mortification. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t even think,” he stammers.

Aang takes his hand, and brushes a thumb across his ring. “You have nothing to apologise for. Now, tell me a story.”

Teo tells him about a thousand suns.

**/**

Kyoshi places a plate of cookies and takes a seat. “So? Want to tell me anything?”

Teo flits his eyes up to her then down again. “What do you want to know?”

Rangi comes out too. “Teo, sweetie, don’t think we haven’t noticed you smiling whenever you come here.”

“Whenever you _do_ come here,” Kyoshi bursts out, “You don’t even visit much anymore!”

“You missed me?” Teo blinks.

“Kiddo, we all missed you. What kind of question is that? You grow on us.” 

Rangi smiles, and looks at Kyoshi as she directs her gaze at Teo. “Oh,” Kyoshi breathes, and her smile turns mischievous, teasing lilt to it. “So, you and him are together, huh? Is that why you haven’t been coming around?”

A blush creeps on Teo. “We’re not together,” he gets out, “but that is part of the reason why I haven’t been coming around much anymore.”

She and Rangi smirk. “Nice going kid. But you’re still not together,” she repeats. “Really? Can you two fess up instead of going round in circles.”

Rangi whacks Kyoshi on the shoulder gently. “Kyoshi,” she says, “don’t tease him for that. You know how it was with us.” 

“Fine, I did. But Teo, what do you expect?”

“I’m just waiting for him to confess. I mean, we already do couple stuff, I guess. Just, want to seal the deal and,” he shrugs, “confirm it.”

Kyoshi gazes at him with dark eyes, considering. “Listen, Teo. You can’t wait forever. You’ve got to make the first move and confess and, who knows? You’re dating, then.” She sees his mouth open and carries on, “Yes, I know. It’s scary and the feeling it makes you feel is. Very, something indescribable. But at the end, it’s all worth it. If it isn’t, then he wasn’t the one for you.” 

Rangi smiles, small but means everything more. “Make the first move, Teo. Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” he breathes out. 

She leans on Kyoshi. “Good. Then bring him here, so we can meet him properly and not when you were just crushing on him hard.”

Kyoshi cackles, and Teo groans. 

“Stop it.” 

“Never,” Rangi says cheerfully. 

“You know you love us,” Kyoshi states, eyes gleaming. 

All Teo does is smile, careful and tentative. Like fine-glass. And hug them.

**/**

The stars are out. 

There are spirits who rest in stars. Spirits who are stars. Or there are just stars without spirits. But either of them fill the world and are beautiful.

The best place to stargaze and whisper something to the spirits who slumber above and look down upon the world is nature. The parks or meadows, whatever your pick is. So can be the roof, if that’s what you prefer and like. 

Stargazing isn’t structured, completely. It isn’t tied down to the Earth like children of the earth are. It floats on gravity. 

Stargazing is more like children of the air. 

“Let me show you the stars,” Teo said, and Aang agreed, eagerly, and that’s how they find themselves laying on the grass now.

Teo sprawls out an arm, inviting, if Aang wants to come close to him and lay down near him. He does, almost immediately. Teo hides his laughter in the crown of Aang’s head, quiet. “Come on, just follow my lead and where my finger goes.” 

“Okay,” Aang says, whispers, because in this atmosphere quiet makes a home. He edges closer to Teo until they’re hip-to-hip and shoulder-to-shoulder.

Teo maps out the world. He points to Nǚ, and says, scratchy. “That’s Nǚ. A star that’s named Girl.” He draws, undecidedly, hair and eyes with his slender finger. He takes Aang’s hand in his and draws the pattern over his knuckles so he knows. 

Under raw star-gleam, Aang is otherworldly. Beaming and striking, like an angel.

Teo glides a finger to three stars and connects them. “Shēn. Three Stars. They weren’t very creative naming this one,” he mutters and Aang laughs, soft.

“Dĭ. The Root,” he dips his finger.

And they continue on like that. He names stars and traces constellations, and Aang learns until he can name it himself. 

_Earth in his hands. Stars around his head._

He trails his eyes down the column of Aang’s throat, and the curve of his jaw and the tattoos that peek out. If Aang catches him checking him out, he doesn't say anything. 

Cosmic stars and galaxies lie beyond in Aang. 

A million galaxies light up far in space, not in reach. Yán Fēi and the sun. Moons twinkling out a thousand light-years away that highlight the dip of Aang’s neck. 

He sneaks another glance at him. 

“What are you thinking about?” 

“Nothing much,” Teo hums, then changes the conversation before Aang can slant him a look. “Look,” he points above, and starts to flow a finger on Aang’s hand, “that’s Yán Fēi and Agni. Named Boy who Blazed and the Sun.” He traces it onto Aang’s fingers and smooth skin. 

**.**

They walk in silence and Teo reaches out for Aang’s hand, tentatively. 

Aang slants him a knowing gaze, and Teo takes it back and places it to his side. He doesn’t say anything as he walks Teo back to his apartment. 

He steps closer to Teo. “When are you free?”

Teo’s eyes flit. “Everyday.” 

Aang breathes, “Tomorrow. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

A pause, a flicker, then: “Yeah.” 

Aang brushes a thumb across the dotted skin of Teo’s cheekbone, and leans in. His lips sing on the shell of Teo’s ear. “Goodnight, sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Teo gazes at him from under his eyelashes. Searing comets, and knifed-meteoroids rest in Aang’s eyes. “Goodnight.” He brings his lips up to Aang’s—

They don’t kiss. 

But what Teo knows, is that even if he burns like Yán Fēi, he’ll still welcome it all like the one before him did too. 

Damn it all, Teo is in love. 

**/**

The planetarium is a gateway between humans and spirits. Or so people say, because their breath gets taken as they stumble upon all the universe that lies within.

Children press themselves against walls, with fingers skimming against bright gems and frames that have meanings in front of exhibitions. Aang holds his wrist.

“You see that?” Teo says, laying down on the seats as Aang lays down next to him, looking up into the sky packed with secrets to be found and empyric wonder. He connects a line, stars, in smooth motion. 

“Yeah, I do,” Aang replies, “What’s its name?”

“Yán Fēi and the sun,” Teo looks at Aang as he says this: “They were lovers. Never to fall out with each other, but always destined to be apart and end in tragedy.” 

In the dim lighting, Aang looks like something out of a painting.

He sinks in deeper. “The spirits hated Agni. They made him the sun. So, they separated him and his lover. Always to orbit each other and appear in touch but to never reach another.”

Aang looks up to silk midnight, and sticky nebulas, and hazy moonbeams. He keeps his eyes on Teo.

“I feel Yán Fēi.” Teo sees the tragedy based and woven into the stars, under the altered light.

Aang reaches out for him, interlaces their fingers and keeps outer space in his direction but gazes at Teo. Burns Teo. “Look at me.” 

Teo does. He always does. 

Aang’s voice is molten harsh, but river sweet. He tips Teo’s chin. “We’ll change it. We won’t.”

Teo holds in his breath.

“They’ll never separate us and we'll always orbit around each other and reach. We won’t end in tragedy. I’ll make sure of it.” 

Aang reminds Teo of Tiān Qín Zuò. He places it now. The constellation Tiān Qín Zuò and it’s fitting. 

“Okay,” Teo breathes. “Okay.”

Aang raises his hand, and asks in the silence. There are no words to be said or needed.

_Can I?_

_Go ahead._

His lips touch Teo’s _(finally, finally_ ) and his heart thrums. _This is what it must feel like to live._ Aang’s mouth spills out all the words that his mouth won’t ever form, and Teo’s drowning. He bleeds the sun. Aang tastes like planets, and the universe they had memorised, and the constellations are foreign to them. Teo is not a firebender but he _sears_ , god, does he sear. Aang’s name etches itself into his heart and his name is the only thing he’ll ever know. All he knows and sees and feels is _Aang Aang Aang_. 

They break apart and Aang smiles, softly. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.”

Teo lets out pearls of laughter, beaming as well. “Me too. Kiss me again.” 

Aang does, slow and sweet and smooth. Teo is wide awake and with how Aang’s pulse feels, he is too. 

_I love you._

**/**

Yán Fēi and the sun. Teo and Aang: destined to burn.

But Yán Fēi and Agni burned in heat. They burn in warmth. 

It’s nearing the end of summer. And he did get Pretty Boy’s number and had more than enough interactions with it. Scored dates, and now they’re _together_. More than what Teo expected and planned.

“Katara and Sokka are protective over me,” Aang says, eyes crinkling, “and they’ll both probably give you the shovel talk. On different occasions, separately. We’ll need to drag Toph out of her apartment sometime soon and Zuko from his uncle. Suki knows many kinds of martial arts, so fair warning, she’s gonna give you the shovel talk with Katara and Sokka. And Azula’s come a long way. She’s Zuko’s sister. I think you’ll like her. I think you’ll like all of them, actually. Do you think you’re up for it?” 

“You know,” Teo smiles, pink lips stretched across white teeth, “more often that not, people ask their boyfriends to meet their family at dinner, but I know I’m up for it. And I know I’ll like all of them when I know Toph and Zuko already.” 

The sun embeds Aang in golden beams, and star love. 

The world's theirs. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah! gyatso and yangchen run a bakery/diner! they're Happy. Yeah! rangshi run a cafe and they're happy too!! Everyone Is!!!! 
> 
> honestly, the amount of times i used pink, or red pls 
> 
> and yeah! rangshi giving their son dating advice so true of them !!
> 
> i was tempted more than once to end this fic in tragedy bc of what aang said but i decided today's my good day so. no tragedy. only happiness 
> 
> \- Yán Fēi is atla-verse Icarus and Agni is obviously Apollo  
> \- the constellations are all real and true. they're part of the Twenty-Eight Mansions of Chinese constellations  
> \- (the sky bison constellation isnt)  
> \- Tiān Qín Zuò is Lyra   
> \- all the airbenders are alive. gyatso and yangchen are aang's dad and aunt  
> \- kyoshi and rangi are in love and are basically teo's moms  
> \- the lightning tattoo is bc symbolism of Aang getting stuck with lightning on his back in atla  
> \- Sak Yant tattoos are to only be tattooed by Buddhist monks which is the religion the airbenders have most influence from  
> \- the Tiger tattoos are one of four animals linked with the Kagyu lineages of Tibetan Buddhism 
> 
> that's all for background!! 
> 
> \- azula redemption arc so if i had my way with canon she and aang would be best friends. older sis and younger bro  
> \- teo and toph are besties  
> \- septum piercing aang!  
> that's all
> 
> i won't be working on teoaang for a while, im sorry. or maybe i will idk i'll see. the reason why im not gonna be working on them is bc im gonna be writing a Very Big fic for June from atla so ! if ur interested then ;) 
> 
> stay safe! have great days! drink some water and go eat!


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